My Best Friend's Wedding
by jule7434
Summary: It was amazing how four little words could leave Alicia astonished. She saw Will get down on one knee, open a box holding a giant diamond ring and ask, "Will you marry me?"
1. Chapter 1

_Thanks to my amazing beta Mike!_

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It was amazing how four little words could leave Alicia astonished. She saw Will get down on one knee, open a box holding a giant diamond ring and ask, "Will you marry me?" Suddenly she was on the verge of tears. _Crap_, she had promised herself not to cry, if it ever came to this.

Hearing the cry 'Yes!' escape Laura's lips took her out of her state of shock. She started to back away hoping neither of them had noticed her. She headed straight to the bathroom, stumbling through the hallways of Lockhart/Gardner, to recompose herself as the tears flowed down her cheeks.

Alicia had gone to Will's office intending to let him know about her win in court that day. She was almost through the open door when she witnessed him propose to Laura. She knew they had been dating, but didn't think Will was ready to take it to the next level.

...

She and Laura had become friends after Alicia helped the military lawyer in court in a civil suit against an accused rapist. They weren't best friends like Kalinda and her had been and were becoming once again, but the two lawyers had a get-a-drink-after-work, have-lunch-occasionally kind of friendship. It was uncomplicated and Alicia liked it. Until Laura had started dating Will. She had to admit that those drinks and lunches had become less and less frequent ever since. It was weird, even if she didn't know how much Will had told Laura about their history.

Ever since the engagement, things had become even weirder and she had been avoiding the happy couple as much as she could. Alicia took matters to Diane as much as she could and walked the hallways of the courthouse always in a hurry. Until one day she was distracted, checking emails on her Blackberry and literally bumped into Laura.

"Alicia! Haven't seen you in a long time! Even when you're here, you're always busy. Hey, I have some great news. Why don't we catch up after work? My treat." The ASA said happily.

Alicia had been unprepared for the encounter and was still looking for an excuse. Laura took it as an acceptance of her invitation. "Great, 18:30, our usual bar." She said over her shoulder already rushing off somewhere.

...

As Alicia arrived, a half hour late, the bar was crowded. She was almost ready to give up and turning around to leave, when she finally spotted Laura sitting by the counter at the end of the bar. In order to get there, Alicia had to squeeze through the crowd, feeling the air filled with the smell of alcohol and the noise of various different conversations.

"I'm sorry, I had to finish some pressing matters for your boyfriend's case tomorrow morning." She said sitting down on the stool next to Laura's.

"Actually, my fiancé!" She corrected Alicia, shoving the diamond ring in her face. "That's what I wanted to tell you! He proposed two weeks ago. I was surprised, though, when he told me he hadn't told you, yet. You being old friends and all." Laura added motioning for the barman to pour Alicia a shot of tequila. _Perfect timing_. She drank it in one sip.

"Well, we haven't seen each other very much these past couple of days. Too busy." She managed to cover. "But, wow! Congratulations! Have you set a date, yet?" Alicia asked the barman to refill her glass.

"Next month. We want a spring wedding." _**What?**_ _A month?_ Alicia picked up her just refilled glass from the counter and downed her second round in one shot again. She motioned for the barman to fill it a third time. "Actually, Alicia, I wanted to ask you something. Will you be my maid-of-honor?"

"Oh God." Alicia felt sick, but was sure it wasn't the effect from the tequila, yet. So she drank her third shot. Alicia was tempted to ask for another refill, but controlled herself. As much as she felt she needed as much tequila as she could get, having this conversation drunk wouldn't be a good idea. She had a tendency to over talk when she'd had too much to drink.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but I don't know a lot of people here in Chicago and you being friends with Will, too, I think it would be a good fit." Alicia let a chuckle escape her. The future bride-to-be didn't know how bad a fit it was. She also, clearly, didn't know anything about her and Will. Alicia didn't think any woman would ask her fiancé's ex-lover to be their maid-of-honor.

The problem was she couldn't say 'no'. What reason would she give for her decline? Her only choice was to smile and nod. And have another shot of tequila, of course.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thank you so much for your lovely reviews! Please let me know what you think of this chapter as well :)_

_Thanks to Mike for beta!_

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Between work, dress shopping, two kids and flower picking, the rehearsal dinner came too fast. Alicia was taking care of dinner details so that Laura and Will could give their full attention to their guests. With their whole families there in one room, they had their hands full enough to be worried about anything else. She was on her way to ask the sound guy to lower the volume when she spotted Owen in the crowd.

"Owen, what are you doing here?" She demanded in her big-sister tone.

"Hey, sis. Glad to see you, too. Will invited me." He had a smirk on his face, probably enjoying the fact that he had surprised her. It had never occurred to her that Will and her brother had gotten along so well. It was a first that Owen had liked one of her boyfriends. _Well, too late for that._

"Why haven't you told me? We could have come together."

"And miss that look on your face?" He pointed towards her, "Never." He chuckled as she shoved his arm.

"Come with me. I have to talk to the sound guy." She said grabbing her brother by the arm and pulling him away.

"Wait, what? Why are you going to talk to the sound guy?" _Ha, who was surprised now?_

"Because I'm the maid-of-honor and that's part of my job." Alicia answered nonchalantly as if it wasn't a big deal. Owen stopped on in his tracks, mouth slightly agape, staring at her. _Who had that __**look**__ on their face now?_

"What? You're Will's maid-of-honor? How did **that** happen?" Owen fired.

"Technically, I'm Laura's maid-of-honor. She asked me." She continued putting her façade up.

"You know what I meant. The maid-of-honor at Will's wedding. "He said with an eye roll. "And you said yes? Why? How are you handling it? Are you okay?" She wanted to tell him to butt off and leave her alone for once, but seeing the genuine concern in his eyes, she couldn't. He wasn't intruding; he was worried about her well being. That's why she just lowered her voice and said as she saw Elsbeth Tascioni approaching, the sound guy long forgotten, "Not now, Owen. I don't have the time, nor is this the place."

"Alicia! We're finally meeting under a pleasant circumstance. It's so good to see you. Wow, dear, this is a gorgeous dress!"

"You too, Elsbeth." She noticed the lawyer looking at her brother. "Oh, I'm sorry. This is my brother Owen. Owen, this is Elsbeth Tascioni, she's…" How could she introduce her? As the lawyer who got Peter out? Helped her? Saved Will? Eli? "She's a friend. And a lifesaver." She added with a smile.

"Oh, so this is the famous Mrs. Tascioni. I've heard great things about you." Owen and Elsbeth shook hands.

"Thank you, thank you, you're both too kind. Your sister is a rescuer herself. Wait, where did I leave my champagne glass? Excuse me." Off she went. "I was talking to Diane, no I still had my glass then and after that I talked to Will…" They could hear as she trailed away talking to herself trying to retrace her steps.

Alicia then felt a hand on her forearm. She turned around and saw Laura.

"Alicia, could you please ask the DJ to lower the volume?" _Crap, she had forgotten all about it!_ "It's a little loud and people are complaining." She asked with a smile. "Actually, my father is complaining." She added with annoyance. "I'm sorry, I would do it myself, but my mother is insisting on family pictures." Laura had a stressed looked on her face, like she needed rescuing.

"Sure, I'll do it right now. Don't worry about it." Alicia put her at ease.

"Thanks, Alicia, you're a lifesaver."

Laura was about to leave when Owen intervened "Ah, so this is the bride-to-be. Congratulations! Will is a great guy."

"Laura, this is my brother Owen."

"Nice to meet you and thanks. You're also a friend of Will's, right?" The former military took Owen's hand and shook it.

"Well, we met through Alicia, but we do get along well." He said smiling.

"I'm so sorry, I have to go. My mom…it was really nice meeting you. And thank you, Alicia." Laura took off in the direction of a big group, who Alicia had been introduced to as Laura's family.

Before Owen could say anything about Laura or the whole situation now that they were alone, as Alicia knew he would, she said, "I have to talk to the sound guy. You stay here and wait for me."

"God, you treat me like a kid. I know you don't want to acknowledge it so you don't feel old, but I have grown up, Alicia." He said in a patronizing tone.

"Have you?" Alicia burst out laughing, leaving him alone.

On her way back from the DJ table, Alicia found Kalinda. She had her hair down, a dress and stilettos on.

"Wow, almost didn't recognize you without the leather boots." Alicia teased. Kalinda tilted her head a bit to the side, her version of an eye roll.

"Didn't think they would be appropriate for the occasion." She said with a light smile.

"Have you seen Owen? He was supposed to wait for me here."

"And you thought he would obey?" The investigator asked in a mocking tone.

"I guess I'm an optimist." Alicia answered with a shrug. "And very naïve, apparently. Sorry, I have to look for him before he does any damage."

Alicia was already leaving when Kalinda held her by the arm "Try to relax, Alicia." The lawyer was about to argue when she added, "Have a glass of wine at least."

Alicia started to look for Owen and found him talking to Will. They were laughing and that sight made Alicia happy. She had always known they would like each other and had wanted to introduce them since Georgetown, but different circumstances had prevented it from happening. When her brother saw her approaching them, he said "Hey, just who we were talking about!"

At her worried look, Will added, "Don't worry, I was telling Owen how you were the one that organized all this. Thank you so much, Alicia." He squeezed her forearm lightly, a gesture that she was sure didn't go unnoticed by Owen.

"Just one of the duties of the maid-of-honor." She answered with a shrug.

"Oh no, this is –" He was interrupted by a loud shout 'Willie!' coming from behind him. He had barely time to mutter an 'Oh God' under his breath before the two women jumped him. They were hugging him and saying how proud they were that he was finally getting married, that they had thought it would never happen, while Alicia and Owen eyed each other.

When they finally let go of him, Will made the introductions: "This is Alicia, she went to law school with me and is now a partner at the firm, and her brother Owen. These are my sisters, Aubrey and Sara."

"Ah, so this is the famous Alicia." Sara said shaking Alicia's hand.

"We've heard **a lot** about you." Aubrey added shaking her hand as well. Alicia felt her cheeks burning up and was sure she was blushing. Her little relief was seeing Will's cheeks turn a shade of pink and him looking down at his feet like he was looking for a hole in the floor he could disappear in.

"Okay, okay, that's enough." Will said. Alicia saw with a side glance that Owen was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Where is that fiancé of yours?" Aubrey asked looking around the salon.

"Yes, William. I am truly disappointed that we haven't met Laura, yet." Sara said with authority. It had been years since Alicia had heard someone call him William. "And a little surprised, too, we thought you were serious about Kalinda." Hearing that, Alicia looked straight at Will with raised eyebrows. He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"That's right. What happened to her? What did you do, Will?" Aubrey sounded disappointed. Alicia saw that her own brother was about to say something, so she pinched him discretely on the arm. It got her a mouthed 'ouch' from him. It did the trick though, and he remained quiet.

"Nothing." Will said with a sigh, clearly annoyed "I never **dated** Kalinda. She works for me and is a friend, that's all. How many times do I have to explain that to you? Let's go, you're boring Owen and Alicia." To them, he added, "Excuse us."

"Nice meeting you." The sisters said over their shoulder as Will dragged them away.

"But you had your sweet voice when you were talking to her on the phone, I told you that." Aubrey argued facing her brother again as they were distancing themselves from Owen and Alicia.

Alicia couldn't prevent a small smile from forming on her lips. She remembered overhearing Aubrey saying that. Of course, at the time she didn't know it was Aubrey. God, it had been so long ago.

"I bet you're **really** happy right now that I'm your only sibling." Owen whispered in her ear, taking her away from her thoughts.

Alicia had to laugh at that, "Definitely, I couldn't handle another you."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thanks to everyone that has read and reviewed this story. I'm so glad you liked this crazy idea that came to me. _

_Thanks to Mike for betareading and helping me._

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It was not even noon and Alicia was exhausted. It was the big day and on top of her previous maid-of-honor duties, she had to calm Laura down. The bride was a nervous wreck, worried that everything wouldn't be perfect and stressed by her family. Alicia's most recent mission was to find Will and tell him to go to the main hall. Immediately.

She found him in one of the rooms reserved for people to dress up and have make-up done. He was moving the sofa cushions, looking for something. "Will, it's time to go." She said to gain his attention.

"I can't find my vows. I'll be right the-" He finally turned around to face her. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks. You look…" She couldn't bring herself to say anything. He looked handsome in a tux; he always had, but this time… He looked like a groom, like he was about to get married and she couldn't say anything further. They stood in complete silence only looking at each other for what seemed like hours. The giggles of the other bridesmaids echoed from the hallway. This dragged Alicia out from his gaze, bringing her back to reality. Will was about to get **married** in a couple of minutes. Alicia didn't want to **be** at his wedding, let alone stand at the altar beside the bride, pretending to be bursting with joy for the happy couple. She couldn't pretend anymore and exploded, walking towards him. "You haven't told Laura about us. Why haven't you told Laura about us? Because she **clearly** doesn't know and now I have to be your **freaking** maid-of-honor!"

"Technically, you're Laura's maid-of-honor." Will mimicked her words to Owen at the rehearsal dinner. He said it so matter-of-factly that it made her blood boil even more.

"You know what I mean, Will. Playing dumb doesn't suit you, so stop." She rolled her eyes. "I'm the maid-of-honor at **your** wedding! Why haven't you told her?"

"I didn't tell her about all of my relationships." He replied, his voice slightly raised. _What was __**he**__ angry about?_

"So that's what it was, then. I was just one more of your flings." She saw his eyes darken. She knew that that wasn't true, but she was so angry and tired, emotionally tired because of all of this that a small part of her wanted to hurt him.

"You can't really believe that." Will said in a quiet tone. "Not after I swallowed my pride over and over and over again and let you know how I feel. Even if every time you ignored it and went back to him, I just kept telling and telling you." His voice got louder with each confession. He took a step towards her. "No, that's not why I haven't told her. I haven't said anything because of **you**!" He took another step in her direction. "To avoid the chance of it ending up on the press." Another step closer and his scent invaded her nostrils, clouding her thoughts. "Because the last time there was even the remote possibility of people knowing about us, your dirty little secret, your little act of rebellion, you said you felt cursed." One more step forward. "So, I was trying to protect **you**!" He was taking deep breaths trying to contain his anger and the shouting. His chest was heaving up and down rapidly, almost touching hers. Alicia was able to notice how dangerously close Will was.

No matter how good his poker face was, Will's eyes always gave up everything. He was looking straight into her eyes and as much as he tried to hide it, she could still see the hurt emanating from the dark chocolate irises. It was painful for Alicia to see, because she knew how much keeping their relationship a secret hurt Will, still did, making him feel like she was ashamed of him. Alicia suddenly felt all the anger drained from her.

Hidden behind his pain she also saw a mix of something else entirely different. There was care, affection and she dared to say, love. Alicia couldn't stop herself any longer; it was too much for her to bear, so she took his face between her hands and pressed her lips against his. He cupped her cheek with one hand and placed the other on the small of her back, pulling her closer. He parted his lips, inviting her in and she took the opportunity. He tasted as good as he always had. She moved her arms to his shoulders and pulled him to her, a moan escaping from the back of her throat. They took a few steps back, always holding each other close, and Will pressed Alicia against the dressing table, the rest of the world long forgotten. He started trailing kisses down her jaw, neck and collarbone, her hand mussing his hair.

Suddenly, a knock on the door brought them back to reality. They jumped as far away from each other as they could and tried to straighten themselves up. The door was slightly pushed open and Kalinda's head popped inside.

"Everybody's looking for the two of you." She said looking between Will and Alicia, a knowing smile forming on her lips.

"Tell them we'll be right there." Will said clearing his throat.

"Okay. Going now." She shut the door leaving the two alone once more.

"You…you're going out there to get married?" Alicia asked with a faint voice. She hadn't fully recovered yet. "After what just happened?" she motioned between them to make her point.

"Are you still going back to Peter?" He asked with a hint of irony in his voice, but the pain in his dark eyes was still visible. She didn't answer and just kept staring at him with wide eyes. "Yeah, I thought so." Will walked past Alicia to get to the door, without even a side glance at her. She started to follow him, when he turned around to face her, his hand still on the handle of the closed door. "Ah, and Alicia, Laura may not be the love of my life, but she makes me happy. That's enough for me." He opened the door and left, walking through the hallway.

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**_A/N.: The original plan was to end this story here, in a pool of angst, like I usually do. But from the reviews, I have been sensing it would be a little mean just to leave it like that, no happy ending at all. So, what do you think? Please, let me know :)_**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm so glad you liked the story and they motivated me to continue it. I hope you like where I went with it, please let me know :)**_

_**Thanks Mike for beta-reading.** _

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After watching the door close with a bang behind Will, Alicia leaned back against the dressing table and closed her eyes. The same dressing table, which only minutes before, Will had her pressed against. Alicia just stood there; she didn't know for how long, processing the recent events. Had she really just kissed Will? Minutes before he got married? Alicia felt dizzy, her head spinning and goosebumps all over her body from Will's touch, still very present on her skin. The realization that it would have been the last kiss they would ever share made her shudder again, but this time not a pleasant shiver. It had been their last stolen kiss, unless… Alicia had seen in his eyes that he still cared. Will **did** ask if she was going back to Peter as an argument to justify his going out to get married to Laura. What if she wasn't? No, she couldn't act on it. She couldn't do anything. It was wrong.

When Alicia felt like she could no longer stay hidden in the suite, she stepped away from the dressing table, straightened her clothes and checked the mirror. The maid-of-honor reapplied her make-up and redid her hair, which was no longer up in a beautiful hairdo, but all messed up, falling loose to her shoulders. No wonder Kalinda had only needed one look before realizing what had been going on. As soon as Alicia was satisfied with her work and thought she was somewhat presentable again, she took a deep breath, found the bouquet she was supposed to hold while walking down the aisle in front of Laura, and got out of the room.

When the maid-of-honor got to the door of the salon, she was met by a euphoric bride. "Where have you been? I was about to send someone to look for you –" Then, in the middle of her questioning, Laura just stopped and asked with true concern, "Hey, are you okay? You look…off."

Laura was a sweet person, a friend, about to get married. Alicia couldn't hurt her. That was one of the thousand reasons why she couldn't speak up about her and Will, why she had to keep pretending everything was fine and follow the plan. Laura's excitement was a reminder that Alicia was doing the right thing in shutting down her own feelings. So, Alicia just smiled and said as reassuring as she could, "I'm fine, don't worry about me. **I** should be the one worrying about you. How are you? No cold feet, I hope."

"No, not at all. Everything is perfect. Thank you, Alicia. I can never thank you enough for everything you have done for us." Alicia didn't say anything and just rubbed her hand up and down Laura's arm in a comforting manner, smiling.

Suddenly, the music started playing and they could hear the guests getting quiet inside the salon, waiting for them to enter. In the line of bridesmaids Alicia, as the maid-of-honor, was last walking down the aisle. Alicia was heading towards her place at the side of the altar. She was taking in her surroundings, appreciating the result of her hard work and she couldn't help as her eyes locked with Will's, standing in place, waiting for his bride. While looking in his chocolate irises, she remembered her speech from the rehearsal dinner the night before.

_Alicia hadn't wanted to do it; she was terrible at giving speeches. Especially when she was supposed to talk about Laura, someone she didn't really know that well. This maid-of-honor thing was getting worse by the minute. Having no other choice, Alicia stood up to give the happy couple her blessing, like everyone was expecting her to. _

"_Well, I know I'm the maid-of-honor and supposed to talk about Laura, tell embarrassing stories and some dark secret about her. Truth is, Laura and I haven't known each other for that long, which makes me even more honored to have been asked to be her maid-of-honor. What I __**can**__ say is that she must be an astonishing person for Will to have asked her to marry him, to have chosen her to spend the rest of his life with, because Will, I __**do**__ know well. We have been friends since law school and honestly, I never thought I would see the day we would lose Chicago's 16__th__ most eligible bachelor." The room burst out in laughter and she could hear Will saying with a smile 'I can't believe you brought that up'. "The Will I knew in college didn't believe in marriage, something he didn't mind to vehemently argue in our first Family Law class. If Laura was able to change his mind on the subject, well…What I'm trying to say is that it says a lot about someone to become his partner in life and equal to such a carrying, funny, loyal and amazing man like Will Gardner. I hope I'll be giving a speech on your 25__th__ anniversary, saying I was right about that…I hate to be wrong." More laughter from the room. "Seriously, I wish you two all the happiness in the world." Alicia rose her champagne glass in a toast and was accompanied back to her place by a round of applause. On her way through the tables to her own, she caught Owen's eyes and saw him mouthing to her 'bullshit', which she replied with an eye roll. _

Suddenly she could no longer hold Will's gaze and her eyes shifted to the guests. Among the bridal party she found Peter and the kids. When her eyes met Grace's, her daughter mouthed 'you look beautiful, mom' and a happy smile crept on the girl's face. Another reminder to Alicia that she was doing the right thing in leaving things as they were. She couldn't hurt them. Her family was healing. Her kids were finally happy again.

When she at last got to her place at the altar, her look crossed paths with Will's again. It was only a fleeting moment, because he quickly looked back down the aisle, his attention caught by the bridal march playing as Laura entered the salon. Alicia saw his eyes widen as he saw his bride in the beautiful white dress, veil and all. If she had had any doubt before that this was the best way for things to go, this was the final nail in the coffin. Will deserved to move on and be happy. He needed someone uncomplicated, with no baggage, undamaged, and who could put him first. It was the final reminder that she was doing the right thing in not pursuing anything. So, she would just keep her mouth shut and watch Will get married.

…...

When Will heard the bridal march, he forced himself to look at Laura, his bride, like he was supposed to. He made himself break eye contact with Alicia, even if it was the last thing he wanted to do. _Damn!_ It had taken him one year of dating Laura to stop dreaming, stop hoping and finally be comfortable with what he had. Will had at last reached acceptance, made peace with the situation and then, it took only a few minutes for Alicia to undo all his hard work. She had chosen the worst moment to stir things up between them again. But he wasn't only angry at her. Most of all, though, he was pissed at himself for giving her so much power over him.

During the ceremony, his eyes wandered through the room and like magnets, they were drawn to Alicia. She was standing at the side of the altar in her beautiful blue dress. Tears were streaming down her face, escaping from her red eyes. She tried to hide them; constantly brushing her hands on her cheeks and under her eyes. Alicia was doing a poor job and Will could see very clearly that she was crying. Were those tears of joy? Or maybe she was crying because… _**No!**_ He forbid his mind to go there. His heart started beating rapidly in his chest. _Damn again!_ He was getting married to Laura. He couldn't be having those feelings. Laura didn't deserve that he still had those feelings. He was about to promise to be hers forever, any minute now. On second thought, maybe he wasn't really there yet. Could he guarantee there would be no more weak moments between them? Could he promise Laura that working a late night at the firm that he and Alicia would never give into temptation? Just one last time? Could he assure Laura that if Alicia one day decided to divorce Peter, that he wouldn't be shaken by it? Could he say, without a doubt, that if Alicia ever wanted to pursue the idea of them he would shut her down? No, he couldn't. Laura clearly deserved more than that, more than him, more than he could ever give her.

Will couldn't go through with this; he had to stop the ceremony. Talk about worst moment possible.

"Stop!" Did he really say it out loud? Every look in the room was pointed at him. Apparently he did.

"Will." Laura whispered in a warning tone, furrowing her brows in confusion and pointing her head at the rabbi.

"Laura, I'm sorry, I can't do this. I can't put you in this position, you deserve better than what I can give you." He whispered back. Not everybody had to hear that. The least he could do for Laura was not having everyone in the room knowing what this was about. Not that they wouldn't find out any minute, but Will would give her a little more time.

"Seriously? You're doing this now? I can't believe you!" She shouted and slapped Will. The bride got down off the altar and ran out of the salon. Away from everybody's confused and concerned stares.

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**A/N.: So, what did you think? I felt really tempted to take the "cheesy" way out, with Alicia interrupting the ceremony. But, as an angst lover I just couldn't do it. I hope you don't hate me for that, but if you do, please tell me your thoughts.  
**


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